There are two Americas.
I recently read Trump’s patriotic speech that he gave from the White House balcony after recovering from COVID, which resulted in resounding cheers from the Right and resounding “boo”s from the Left (CNN called it “dark and divisive”). There has also been a lot of talk surrounding the 1619 project, which is equally controversial, and highlights the polar opposite of Trump’s speech.
We have lost the ability to communicate. We speak, and we write, but without understanding or empathy or willingness to have our thinking adjusted.
This inability to communicate, and to get to a place where we can at least be willing to understand each other, gets really frustrating, and often leaves me just wanting to throw my hands up and simply let my voice be heard at the ballot box.
And yet I know that’s a very short-sighted way forward that doesn’t really help things. It only further divides us. We MUST get to the place where we really step out of our boxes and begin to realize that there are things that we just don’t understand. At the very least, if we find ourselves so extremely angry about the “other side,” the fact that there are really good people on both sides of this should wake us up to the fact that we’re missing something.
Anyway, here’s my take on 1619 vs. Trump’s speech, and the two Americas we live in:
The Left loves things like the 1619 project because they believe our truly gruesome history has been suppressed, and that we really are an unjust nation that needs to reckon with its past. They believe that we can never move forward unless we acknowledge and repent of our past, so that’s where their focus will always be, until they believe we have done what’s right. There’s no “making America great again,” because anything we look back to is always going to be worse than what we see today.
The Right loved Trump’s speech because it recognizes that there’s an effort to disregard or suppress or even reframe our history in a completely negative light that doesn’t really jive with reality, and ignores all of the good that has been done in this nation, and the countless billions of people who have been raised from abject poverty as a result. When we compare this nation to every other nation, we stand far and above in many ways, and there are still multitudes of people who are very proud of that, and who want what America stands for to be celebrated and continued, so that more people can experience true freedom and everything that comes with it.
Here’s reality: We know nothing about the extent of the evil that has existed in this country, and it would probably take all four years of high school to adequately teach it to our kids. We also know nothing about the extent of the good that has existed in this country, and it would probably take all four years of high school to adequately teach it to our kids. This is really where we are. Of course we’re not “fully” teaching either one. School isn’t the place to do that. School is the place to get a balanced view of both that is reasonable in the amount of time available. The reason the Left has no issue with the 1619 Project is that they believe we need more of that taught. The reason the Right has no issue with things like Trump’s patriotic speech is that they believe we need more of that. Only the absolute fringes of both sides actually believe in “destroying” the other narrative. Everyone else is just like all of us here: we all want the truth to be taught. We want balance. We want true justice. And we want true freedom. And we want it for all. And we want those who have been mistreated or discriminated against to not experience that any more. We all want this. ALL of us.
So that’s where we need to start — Not seeing everyone on the “other side” as enemies to beat, but as allies in the fight for justice. The tricky thing is that we tend to believe justice will be reached by very different methods. This is where we get stuck. And I am growing increasingly hopeless about us ever being able to reach some understanding in that place. But that’s the place where we need it so badly.
I’m going to be completely honest. I’m voting, in person, for Trump in November. Just that fact makes me “evil” or “racist” in many people’s eyes. If they’d actually take the time to reach out and discover the truth, they’d understand that I want exactly what they want, but that I believe the things they want will be accomplished by basically the opposite measures that they would use. There are many people who are completely silent because they’re scared for anyone to know they’re voting for Trump. I could be wrong, but I believe he will win. But what does that mean? What do we actually gain from it? Half the nation still won’t even understand why he won, so they’ll be stuck with, “Well, I guess half the nation is just racist.” And then what happens in four years? We will have learned nothing as a nation, and the pendulum will swing. And I dread what that will mean for our nation. Trump was the nation’s reactionary pendulum swing to Obama. So who will be the nation’s reactionary pendulum swing to Trump? I shudder to imagine.
I wish I could say I see some sort of bright light in the future. The entire world is moving one direction. Half of our nation is pushing against it. I don’t believe that’s enough to actually stem the tide of what’s coming for not only us, but the entire world.
Unless we all wake up. And realize that those people on the “other side” actually aren’t our enemies, but are our brothers and sisters — our fellow Americans. And it’s only in coming together in unity that we stand any chance.
May God have mercy on us all and may He shine His light into our hearts and open our eyes, that our future may once again be bright, and filled with hope and the promise of an even better future for our kids.
A future with ONE America.